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As long as there have been boats and beasts of burden, intrepid business professionals, governments, and marauders have sought fame, fortune, wealth, and value by going global. Think the Phoenicians, Marco Polo, and the Vikings in days of old. Or in contemporary times, think of China, BRIC, EMEA, and other emerging markets. One could argue that outsourcing to China a few decades ago gave birth to supply chain management as we think of it today. This month we’re including an online bonus column from APQC. While this issue focuses on global management, we didn’t want to miss out on the column.

When an industry is changing rapidly, companies must adapt in order to survive. In this whitepaper, a global publisher was seeking a partner that could mitigate risk and build a platform flexible enough for their shifting customer expectations. The solution enabled the company to rewrite their operations game plan and transform their supply chain.

While most companies realize the value of network optimization, many struggle with where to start and which levers to pull to deliver the solution that meets their needs. During this new webcast Mike Jones, president of the St. Onge Company, will provide case study examples of successful optimization projects across a variety of industries.

More on Intra-Asia Trade Compliance

By Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor

October 01, 2013

Editor’s Note: Trade Tech chief executive officer Bryn Heimbeck gave SCMR readers a look at Japan’s new advanced filing requirements that come into effect early next year with Part I of his analysis published yesterday. Here is Part II.

Twenty-seven countries in Europe have implemented EU ENS (Entry Summary Declaration) for all modes of transport, says Heimbeck. He adds that China is working on its own version of a 24-hour rule and is implementing it already in several ports.

“Mexico, Australia, and Brazil have rules in place as well so we can and should expect this trend to continue as more of the major trading countries see security processes as part of both an enhanced national security effort as well as a benefit to trade,” says Heimbeck.

“The facilitation of trade is the true silver lining in this process,” he says. “Pundits, professionals, and professors have all been talking for years about the gains that come from visibility of the supply chain.”

Heimbeck says it should be no surprise to professionals in international trade and transport that when the governments got involved at looking at the existing flow of trade into their countries from a national security perspective, they found what we have all known for years; it’s hard to see what is going on.

“They came to the same conclusion as the rest of us – visibility to the supply chain is essential,” he says.

And, they have had the clout to mandate that processes that bring visibility to the supply chain be put in place.

“We are already starting to see testaments to the gains that companies have realized in their supply chains in the U.S. resulting from information now available to them as a result of the 24-hour rule,” says Heimbeck.

The latest round of security enhancement came in the U.S. with the implementation of 10+2. This modification or extension of the 24-hour rule required enhanced information on the suppliers shipping the cargo and the nature of the cargo.

“Customs brokers in the US have been gaining significantly advanced access to data and have been making that data available to their customers on their cargo tracking pages,” he adds.

NVOCCs in the U.S. who have been filing AMS for a number of years now, have also reported significant advances in customer satisfaction coming from their ability to take AMS information and make it available to their clients before the cargo departs from the origin.

In both cases, the combination of advance cargo data collection and web-based visibility tools are giving importers much better visibility to their supply chains at a level of detail that they had not previously had. This has been good for the trade and we can expect to see more benefits coming as trading parties can come to expect access to information concerning their supply chains in a greater number of ports and countries.

“The result is already in place in major trade lanes and is growing steadily,” concludes Heimbeck. “Soon, we will all look back on the establishment of these information super highways and see them as no less critical to the success and expansion of international trade as our physical highway systems.”

About the Author

Patrick BurnsonExecutive Editor

Patrick Burnson is executive editor for Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review magazines and web sites. Patrick is a widely-published writer and editor who has spent most of his career covering international trade, global logistics, and supply chain management. He lives and works in San Francisco, providing readers with a Pacific Rim perspective on industry trends and forecasts. You can reach him directly at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Recent Entries

When an industry is changing rapidly, companies must adapt in order to survive. In this whitepaper, a global publisher was seeking a partner that could mitigate risk and build a platform flexible enough for their shifting customer expectations. The solution enabled the company to rewrite their operations game plan and transform their supply chain.

February manufacturing data issued today by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) dipped slightly compared to January, according to the most recent edition of the organization’s Manufacturing Report on Business.